The Last Man on Earth is an American post-apocalyptic comedy television series created by Will Forte.[1] The series premiered on the American broadcast network Fox on March 1, 2015.[1] The pilot episode was written by Forte and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.[1]

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The show originated from the writing team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who had the idea initially for a feature film. They approached longtime collaborator and former Saturday Night Live cast member Will Forte with the premise, who "took a spark to it and took it in his own direction," according to Miller.[2] He was partially inspired by the series Life After People. "I love comedy where there's a lot of tension and even though it's very far-fetched, it seems very relatable," said Forte of the premise.[3] Forte's treatment for the series, crafted over a weekend, was pitched around Hollywood to positive responses. They mainly pitched to cable and Internet services, as Forte believed a broadcast network would be stricter on content.[2] In their pitch, much of the outline of the series' first season was formulated.[4] Fox, the show's eventual distributor, was instead doing "something different" and specific to his vision, according to Miller.[2]

Forte spoke on the show's creative freedom in a 2015 interview:

“

I think we always saw this as more of a cable show, to be honest. They claimed from the get-go that they didn't want to change the tone of the show, and I think I went in with an eyebrow raised, thinking, okay, well when's it going to come out that we have to change it around? And they were great. They stuck by their pledge and let us make this different type of show. We're so happy to have had this experience. It was just a great, great experience with Fox.[4]

”

Filming the series was challenging. For example, maintaining silence and not picking up sounds of cars in the distance made it difficult.[3] In addition to Forte's fascination with Life After People, similar films bandied about while writing the show included The Omega Man, I am Legend, and 28 Days Later.[4] Fox particularly appreciated the heart of the story, with its universal theme. According to Lord, "We always talked about that this is a person who is very flawed, and a person who maybe needed the entire world to end in order for him to become his best self. [...] That was our big thought, well here’s a guy who maybe he wasn’t the best guy in the regular world, but if you took the regular world away, could he eventually get back to being the person that all of us hope that we can be."[4]

Will Forte as Phil Miller, the last man on Earth in "Novemberish 2021" after a virus wiped out the entire population of Earth in 2019. Phil lives in his hometown of Tucson, Arizona, having already searched the entire United States for any signs of life.

Kristen Schaal as Carol Pilbasian, the last woman on Earth, who sees Phil's "ALIVE IN TUCSON" signs and travels to Tucson. Her campfire smoke is seen by Phil just as he's about to kill himself. Despite Phil's initial excitement to meet another person, her strait-laced personality quickly begins to rub Phil the wrong way. Alexandra Daddario portrays a dream sequence version of Carol.

On its premiere, The Last Man on Earth scored 5.75 million viewers with an average 2.4 rating among adults 18-49, making it the highest-rated broadcast series of the evening. Its second episode, which immediately followed the pilot, maintained its ratings.[5]

My recommendation comes with a caveat: there is no roadmap for this kind of show, and it could easily fall apart quickly. But I will say this for The Last Man on Earth: it does not seem like the sort of thing that would be a primetime network sitcom. And that's precisely why it should be one.

On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the show has a score of 74 (indicating "generally favorable reviews") based on 24 reviews.[9] Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called the show "A genre-busting breakout that's creative, nuanced and inspired."[10] Robert Bianco of USA Today praised Forte's "audacity, inventiveness and achievement."[11] Hank Stuever of The Washington Post called it "A charming and intelligent sendup of pop culture’s obsession with the end of everything."[12]Slate '​s Willa Paskin called the program "well-made, polished, odd, surprisingly funny."[13] "For a show that shouldn't really work at all, Last Man works pretty well," remarked Margaret Lyons of Vulture.[14]

Entertainment Weekly '​s Jeff Jensen called it "profoundly funny," and sustainable if it continues the "ingenuity, surprises, and craftsmanship."[15] "I was impressed by The Last Man on Earth, and hope it can continue to spin stories and character development out of its somewhat narrow premise," wrote Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe.[16] Mike Hale of The New York Times deemed the show "well made, meticulous in its comic details and pleasantly acted," though noting that part of the show's appeal "dissipates" past the pilot episode.[17] Brian Lowry of Variety opined that "The premise calls for a level of creativity from the producers that these episodes don’t consistently deliver. That's not to say 'I wouldn’t watch him if he were the last man on Earth.' But like the fate of humanity within the series, while the future certainly isn't hopeless, neither does it look particularly bright."[18]